I don't regard what was practiced in East Germany and the Soviet Union as any kind of socialism that I would ever support, Wolfgang.

What I have always been in favour of...in the scope of our present social realities, you understand...is a harmonious combination of capitalism and socialism.

1. Capitalism to stimulate innovation and provide employment in small to medium-sized business activities in all areas of the economy...

2. Socialism to take care of larger national concerns such as a national health care system, some (but not all) educational institutions, some (but not all) communications and media networks, some (but not all) transportation systems, some (but not all) systems with regard to protecting the natural environment, and then you have government, the courts, the military, etc...which essentially pretty well have to be socialist institutions (meaning: you get paid by government paycheque). And so on...

That's sort of vaguely what we have in Canada right now...except that our economy is really controlled by a bunch of huge multi-national corporations and major banks...and that is what I don't like about the situation.

But what I ultimately envision...and it has never been tried...is a society such as was presented on the show Star Trek Next Generation, and that would be a truly socialist society where everyone had all their material needs met fully and there was no money at all. The motivations for getting ahead in that society would not have to do with money or material gain, they would have to do with much more subtle and far more meaningful matters. If you've seen the show, you know what I mean.

It would not be possible to instantly get people from our society to adjust to a situation like that, because they are completely unaccustomed to it. They are used to focusing on acquiring money and material goods and fighting for "survival of the fittest". As far as I'm concerned, our present society is still in an adolescent stage of consciousness...like a 14-year old...and it will probably remain so for some time to come.

I guess that's still better than being like a 6-year old. We have made some progress in the last few thousand years.